Executive Summary 4. Trial Waiver Systems: Findings: There is a common view, reflected both in law and in the public consciousness, that the trial is the key safeguard which guarantees the fairness of criminal convictions. In reality, however, many convictions are imposed without a full trial ever taking place as a result of systems which incentivise suspects to waive their right to a trial. Taking various different forms across the globe, including plea bargaining, abbreviated trials and cooperating witness procedures, this growing practice has considerable implications – both good and bad – for human rights and the rule of law. Of the 90 jurisdictions for which information was collected, trial waiver systems were identified in 66. A variety of types of trial waiver systems were identified, including: (a) sentence incentives; (b) charge incentives; (c) fact incentives; and (d) cooperation agreements/crown witness systems. Growth: It is easy to see the benefits of these trial waiver systems, which include helping to tackle impunity and to reduce long case processing times and related over-reliance on pre-trial detention. However, this shift away from the full guarantees of a trial also poses challenges to rights protection and the rule of law. The domestic and international normative frameworks to regulate this new practice has, however, failed to keep up with the growth in use of trial waivers, with surprisingly little guidance or jurisprudence on this rapidly expanding practice. The formalisation, adoption and use of trial waiver systems has clearly increased dramatically in the last 25 years. Before 1990, only 19 of the 90 jurisdictions studied here featured trial waiver systems in law. By the end of 2015, the number had grown to 66, reaching all six major continents and changing practice across a variety of different legal systems and traditions. Limited data collection and sharing by governments on the operation of trial waiver systems makes a comprehensive understanding of their use difficult, but it is clear that in some jurisdictions, trial waivers come to largely replace trials (for example, concluding 97% of federal cases in the US), a process which in some jurisdictions has taken place rapidly over the course of just a few years. Research: Opportunities: Fair Trials and its pro bono partner Freshfields have collected information on the existence and operation of trial waiver systems in 90 jurisdictions internationally in order to better understand the scope of the practice and its potential implications for human rights and rule of law protection. Surveys circulated to lawyers sought to collect basic information on whether a trial waiver system exists, and if so: what laws and/or policies govern the system; when the trial waiver system was introduced; the reasons for introduction of the trial waiver system; how commonly the trial waiver system is used; and how the trial waiver system works in practice. More detailed analysis was then carried out in eight jurisdictions. Trial waiver systems are adopted for a variety of reasons, efficiency being the most prominent. Many jurisdictions have strategically implemented cooperation agreements in efforts to tackle corruption, complex and organised crime. Trial waiver systems are frequently created in the context of broader legal reforms to modernise and reform national criminal justice codes and introduce adversarial elements of criminal procedure. Human rights concerns, including lengthy case processing times, excessive use of pre-trial detention, and impunity for corruption, are prominent motivators for the adoption of trial waiver systems in many jurisdictions.